Authors: Kirsten DeMuzio
Safe With You
Safe With You
Kirsten DeMuzio
Copy
right © 2013 by Kirsten DeMuzio
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval systems, without prior written permission of the author except where permitted by law.
Published by
Kirsten Demuzio
9054
Tabernash Drive
Columbus, Ohio 43240
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Cover design by Carey Abbott
http://ebookcoverdesignsbycarey.com
CONTENTS
Chapter Seven: Up Against the Wall
Chapter Seventeen: Girls Night Out
Chapter Nineteen: Announcements
Chapter Twenty One: Behind Bars
Chapter Twenty Two: Tempers Flare
Chapter Twenty Three: Road Trip
Chapter Twenty Four: Bedtime Story
Chapter One
Smokin’ Hot
On Monday afternoon I dodged puddles as I hurried along the sidewalk toward Starbucks. I had stayed after class to talk to my professor about the research paper I would be writing over the summer, and now I was 20 minutes later than normal to get my coffee. There was sure to be a long line by now. I had an hour between classes, and I visited this Starbucks every day for a coffee break. I was usually able to beat the rush and grab my favorite seat by the window, but not today. I groaned inwardly as I saw the line reaching almost out the door and shook out my umbrella before walking inside.
Hopefully a table would free up by the time I got my coffee, otherwise I would have to drink my coffee outside in the rain. I
smoothed my hair and busied myself with people watching while waiting for my turn. My eyes scanned the room full of NYU students talking or studying and stopped on the guy I had nicknamed Hot Coffee Guy – not because he was drinking hot coffee, but because he was smokin’ hot.
I had first noticed him about
two weeks ago, and he had been here every day since then – always here when I arrived and still here when I left. He sat at the same table near the Pick Up counter with his back to the wall. His hair was dark brown and short on the sides, but the top was just long enough to be a little messy. From what I could see of his body it was amazing – his gray shirt stretched snugly over broad shoulders and muscular arms.
But it was his eyes that really got to me. On the few occasions I had glanced over when he had been looking at me, I was captivated by the intensity of his dark eyes
, framed by thick black lashes, unable to look away. He was here today in his usual spot, looking mysterious and sexy as always, drinking his coffee and reading the paper.
I was snapped back to reality by the Starbucks girl asking me for my order. As I
moved to the Pick Up counter and waited on my drink I felt a hand on my lower back and tried my best not to scowl as I turned around to see Ryan Harper standing next to me. Our fathers had known each other forever – his was the mayor of New York City and mine was a US Senator from New York. Ever since he hit puberty and realized girls weren’t the enemy he had been trying to get me to go out with him.
Three months ago
I finally gave in. Two weeks ago I finally gave up. Even though we were great together in theory and he was classically handsome with dark blond hair and blue eyes, I found myself running through my To Do list when he kissed me. When he pushed me to get more physical, I knew it was time to break it off. I was relatively inexperienced, but I knew that I should want to get close to my boyfriend, not find excuses to push him away. As a connoisseur of steamy romance novels, I wanted the heat and the passion and the undying love. And I wasn’t willing to settle for anything less.
I know my cousin, Lindsay, thinks that I’m crazy waiting
around for something she doesn’t believe exists. But I know it will happen someday, and I also know my decision to break it off with Ryan was the right one. Apparently he disagreed. I had been fielding calls and texts from Ryan for the last week, and my patience was wearing thin.
“Hey,
Taryn. I left you a message yesterday,” he said, moving in too close for comfort. “Yes, Ryan, I got your message. And I was hoping you would get mine when I didn’t call back,” I snapped. I heard a low chuckle from behind me.
“
You’ve had enough time to cool off. Stop playing hard to get and come back to me.” Okay, that did it. Clearly politeness was not going to cut it. I narrowed my eyes and poked my finger into his chest, “You listen to me, Ryan Harper. We are never ever ever getting back together. Ever.” I harbored a secret obsession with country music, and I must have been channeling Taylor Swift at the moment. “I’m sorry to be so blunt, but you need to stop.”
I grabbed my drink off the counter and tried to walk past him, bu
t he snagged my wrist and practically whined, “Taryn…” I tried to pull my wrist free from his grasp when I sensed someone come up behind me. “I think the lady is done talking to you. Let her go or you’ll be talking to me outside,” a low deep voice rumbled. I didn’t have to turn around to know who it was. That sexy voice could only come from one person.
Ryan looked from Hot Coffee Guy to me and back again
, scowling, before releasing my wrist and walking away without another word. I hoped he would give up now, but somehow I doubted it. I turned around and stumbled back a step when I realized how close to me Hot Coffee Guy was standing. He gently held my elbow to steady me as I looked up at him. His eyes were so dark they were almost black and he was looking at me intently with a worried expression on his face. “Are you okay?”
“Yes
, thank you,” I said looking around for an empty table, but not finding one. “You can sit with me if you’d like,” he said gesturing to his table. I smiled and sat down across from him. Sitting face to face with Hot Coffee Guy, whose gorgeous face could have been on a billboard in Times Square, was definitely out of my comfort zone. Well, here goes nothing.
“I’m
Taryn Ross.” I stuck out my hand and he shook it. “It’s nice to meet you, Taryn Ross. I’m Wyatt Hunter, but my friends call me Hunt.” I scrunched up my nose and said, “I think I’ll stick with Wyatt.” He laughed and took a drink of his coffee.
“Thanks for helping me out. I’m not usually
a confrontational person.” He leaned back in his chair and crossed his ankle on his knee. “I almost felt sorry for the guy. For a minute there I thought I might have to rescue him from you,” he teased.
I rolled my eyes,
“Don’t feel sorry for him. He’s got plenty of girls lined up to keep him company. For some reason he keeps coming after me.” Wyatt raised his eyebrows, “For some reason? I’d question his sanity or his sexual orientation if he wasn’t after you.” I brushed a hand over my long light brown hair that was currently pulled back in a low messy ponytail. I usually didn’t wear much makeup and today was no exception. I glanced down at my outfit – gray NYU t-shirt, faded skinny jeans and my navy blue rain boots with yellow ducks on them. Nothing too special about me today.
Wyatt followed my eyes down,
“Nice boots.” I laughed and stuck out a foot. “Don’t let me keep you from studying or whatever it is you normally do,” he said as he picked up the paper he had been reading, but his eyes stayed on mine.
“Oh, right,” I said looking away.
I had forgotten for a moment that he offered me a seat because there were no other open tables. I reached into my bag and hesitated. I was at a very emotional point in the book I was reading and I really didn’t want to start crying in front of him. That’s if I was even able to concentrate with him sitting two feet away from me.
He noticed my hesitation and asked, “Is everything okay?”
I smiled and pulled out my book. My dad always told me that honesty is the best policy. “Well…I would normally be reading this smutty romance novel right now, but it’s at a really emotional part and I think it would be weird and uncomfortable if I started crying when you were so nice to share your table.”
I peeked up
at him from under my lashes to see if he thought I was totally insane, but instead he had a smirk on his face. He gestured toward my book, “Smutty, huh?” I rolled my eyes and laughed, “You’re such a guy. Of course you would zero in on that word.” I stuffed the book back into my bag and pulled out a notebook.
“I gues
s I’ll study since I have finals coming up in a few weeks,” I sighed. His eyebrows pulled in as he watched me put my book away. “What?” I asked thinking maybe I had coffee dripping off my chin or something equally embarrassing stuck on my face. “You cry over a book?” I shrugged one shoulder. “Well, yeah. I think books get me even more than movies, because you can really get inside the characters head and feel what they feel…” I trailed off, not wanting to babble. “Hmmm,” he said thoughtfully and went back to reading his paper.
I was trying to concentrate on my studying, I really was. But Wyatt had finished his coffee and popped a piece of gum into his mouth.
Never before had I found gum-chewing to be so sexy. The way his strong jaw was clenching as he chewed, and he occasionally licked his bottom lip. I couldn’t help myself from glancing at him from the corner of my eye, and I think I’d read the same page of notes fifteen times, not able to focus on the words.
A little while later I glanced at my phone and saw it was time for me to go. I stood up and started gathering my things. “I have to get to my next class.” Wyatt stood up with me and took my empty cup and his to the trash. He held out his hand to me and said, “It was a pleasure sharing
a table with you, Taryn Ross.” I shook his hand, noticing how warm and strong it felt, and he held on a moment longer than necessary, squeezing my hand gently before releasing it. “Goodbye, Wyatt Hunter.”
After my last class
of the day I hurried to the street and hailed a cab to take me to my weekly session with my therapist, Dr. Flannigan. Once there I slipped off my duck boots and curled my feet under me on the couch. Dr. Flannigan leaned back and laced his fingers together over his rather large stomach. “So, Taryn, it’s been two weeks since you ended your relationship with Ryan. Are you still happy with that decision?”
I twirled a lock of hair around my finger, and I thought about that for a minute before answering, “Well, I guess I feel good about it. If anything I feel relieved that it’s
over. If that makes any sense.” Dr. Flannigan pushed his glasses up on his nose and nodded – he did that a lot. “I think that makes perfect sense, Taryn. From what you told me about your relationship, you were never able to open up to Ryan about your past and how it has shaped you into the person you are today.”
I opened my mouth to reply, but he held up a hand to stop me. “I know you don’t think your childhood has any bearing on your life today, but it does. The issues you have with intimacy and trust stem from being abandoned as a child.” Based on my years of therapy and my current course of study in psychology, I knew he was right, but I really hated dwelling on the past.
Besides, my main motivation for breaking up with Ryan was because of a lack of passion. Granted I had never actually felt this passion I had only read about, but I believed deep down that it existed and that I would know when I found it.
